1. Field of the Invention
I, Enrico Nicolo, have invented a surgical tool which relates to anastomotic staplers, more particularly, to a circular stapler for side to end, side to side or end to end anastomosis.
2. Background Information
In the anastomosis of two segments of a resected bowel, a surgical circular end to end anastomosis stapler is often used. These surgical tools are conventionally called "EEA staplers", "EEA devices" or simply "EEA's". These devices are used to attach one longitudinal, generally cut, end of a bowel segment to another longitudinal, generally cut, end of a bowel segment. I have discovered that it may be beneficial to attach the side of one bowel segment to the end or to the side of another bowel segment in a bowel resection, or the like. This procedure would be very helpful, for example, in performing the second stage of a two-stage Hartman operation. However, there are currently no surgical tools to easily accomplish this type of attachment.
An object of my invention is to provide a surgical anastomosis stapler which allows for the side of the lower bowel segment to be attached to the end or to the side of another bowel segment to be attached thereto. A further object of my invention is to provide a surgical circular anastomotic stapler which is easy to manufacture and does not differ significantly in operation from existing surgical staplers.